


Mirror

by saiditallbefore



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Remix, Spies & Secret Agents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-04
Updated: 2016-04-04
Packaged: 2018-06-04 12:57:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6658891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saiditallbefore/pseuds/saiditallbefore
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Natasha travels to Miami to root out intelligence on HYDRA.  She finds much more than she bargained for.</p>
<p>(Written for MCU Rolling Remix 2016.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mirror

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [DEFCON 3](https://archiveofourown.org/works/6583855) by [sevenofspade](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sevenofspade/pseuds/sevenofspade). 



Natasha felt the heat the moment she stepped out of the airport. Miami’s humidity was like a physical presence, oppressive and damp. She grimaced; this wasn’t the tropical getaway she’d hoped for.

To be entirely fair, her mood had little to do with Miami, and everything to do with the business that had brought her there.

Maria had learned that there was a former HYDRA base in the city. Based on her intelligence, it seemed unlikely that it was still occupied. In fact, Natasha doubted she would find anything at all; the base might have held a few servers and some personnel back before Project Insight, but they were surely long gone, removed to a more strategic location.

It was a waste of Natasha’s time, and Maria knew it.  Nat could have turned her down. She wasn’t a SHIELD agent anymore; SHIELD no longer officially existed. And putting all of that aside, Natasha was far too good at her job to be sent on simple retrieval missions.

But Maria had asked, so Natasha had agreed.

Natasha shrugged out of her blazer and slung it over her shoulder before hailing a cab. If anyone looked at her, they would think she was in town on business. If anyone bothered to ask, her cover was that she worked in accounting for a development firm. No one ever asked to hear more about accounting.

Natasha’s hotel was adequate and filled with business travellers. She dropped her only bag off and strapped on her Widow’s Bites.   After checking her makeup and changing into a blouse that would better cover the bracelet-like weapon on her wrist, she took a cab downtown.

She found a café across the street from the building she would need to infiltrate. Nat ordered a cappuccino and a sandwich and sat down with her laptop. Here again, her businesswear made her anonymous.

Years of spying had made Natasha adept at multitasking. As she eyed the security of the building across the street, she also wrote an email to Laura, partly to look busy and partly because they needed to catch up. After scarfing down her sandwich, of course; airplane food was horrendous, and she was starving.

Across the street, office workers entered and exited the building without any apparent difficulty. Security seemed nonexistent…or well-hidden.

Natasha slipped her laptop into her purse and stood. If she were still working for SHIELD, she would wait on more intel, but she’d done more with less before.

She crossed the street with purpose, and strode into the building. No one stopped her; the few onlookers would have assumed that she either worked there or had business there.

The lobby was sparse, with a few chairs scattered about, and doors leading into offices. There was a security camera on the ceiling: well-concealed, but obvious to her eyes.

Her destination was on the 11th floor. On paper, these were the offices of Lerna Insurance. In reality, it was a holding corporation for a good number of HYDRA’s assets.

The offices themselves were deserted. The lights were on and the trash had recently been taken out- the entire building probably subcontracted their security and janitorial staff.

Natasha ignored the cubicles and made her way toward a corridor that appeared to lead to individual offices. She ducked into the first one, happy to be out of the line of sight of the elevator.

That first office had been stripped bare: no papers on the desk, nothing in the filing cabinets, nothing left on the computer. A cursory inspection of the other offices told her that it was more of the same.

Whatever HYDRA had been up to there, it seemed they had left.

Natasha huffed a sigh, frustrated that she had been sent on a wild goose chase after all.

Murphy’s Law being what it was, this was when she heard the heavy footfall of a boot behind her.

Natasha whipped around, her Widow’s Bites at the ready.

The Winter Soldier was here.

He wasn’t holding a weapon, but she had no doubt he could produce one at a moment’s notice, and Natasha was only lightly armed. If he shot her now, she would not get away with only a scar.

Once, she would have shot him without thinking. But that was a long time ago.

“Steve is looking for you,” she said, keeping her voice steady and non-threatening.

“Where are they?” he demanded. He stepped forward. Natasha willed herself not to step back.

“I don’t know,” she said. She hesitated a moment, then added, “I was looking for information.” Maybe honesty would earn her some goodwill.

He was silent. Normally, Natasha would have let the silence stretch out, allowed him to become uncomfortable. But she suspected he could outlast her, and she desperately wanted to escape.

“What are you going to do now?” she asked. _What are you going to do with me,_ she meant.

“Stop them,” he said. For the first time, she could see something of the man Barnes had been in the Winter Soldier’s face. “I’m going to destroy HYDRA.”

“By yourself?” Natasha allowed her doubt to creep through into her voice.

He stared at her, defiant. She supposed that was answer enough.

Natasha understood, in a way she wasn’t sure Barnes himself did. You couldn’t erase the past. You couldn’t bring the dead back to life.

But you could balance the scales. And that had to be worth something.

Natasha lowered her weapons. “Let’s go. This place gives me the creeps.”

Barnes hesitated for only a moment before following her. With his grimy hoodie and her designer blouse, they were a mismatched set, but if the cab driver had any questions, he kept them to himself.

Natasha left Barnes in her hotel room, questioning her own sanity all the while, and picked up a change of clothes for him. On a whim, she bought churros from a stand as a snack. Hers had too much cinnamon, but that was a feature, not a bug. Barnes seemed to like his churro, once he decided that she hadn’t poisoned it.

Natasha scribbled a number on a piece of scrap paper. “This is Steve’s number. If you decide you want it.” She paused a moment, and scribbled another number down. “And here’s mine.” She tucked it into Barnes’s shirt pocket. He nodded at her curtly.

Maybe he wouldn’t call today, or tomorrow. But it was there when he was ready.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [On Reflection](https://archiveofourown.org/works/6824215) by [Dira Sudis (dsudis)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dsudis/pseuds/Dira%20Sudis)




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